Nikolas Cruz's sister Danielle Woodard claims 'he came from a polluted womb' because of their drug-addled mom
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: Convicted Nikolas Cruz's emotional half-sister testified in court on Monday, August 22. Danielle Woodard, the Parkland school shooter's sister testified that their prostitute mom smoked crack and drank excessively while she was carrying him, causing him to grow up in a "polluted womb."
Woodard, 35, was the second witness to testify for the defense on Monday, as Cruz's legal team argues that he has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and other anti-social behavioral disorders caused in part by his mother's drinking and drug use while pregnant. Woodard, who shares Cruz's birth mother, is currently in prison facing charges for allegedly kidnapping a 72-year-old woman in Broward County in 2020, and was transferred from jail to testify. She has a lengthy criminal record and has spent time in prison since she was a child.
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Woodard's testimony comes as the defense on Monday started presenting its case in an effort to urge the jury to convict Cruz to life in prison rather than death.
Cruz's sister, who has spent a lot of time in jail and has been found guilty of 16 felonies, gave testimony about the influence their mother had on her life. Woodard spoke about her mother Brenda Woodard who died last year, "She introduced me to a life that no child should ever be introduced to." She told the jury that she had witnessed her mother consume alcohol, smoke crack, and smoke cigarettes while she was pregnant with her brother, Cruz claiming that he was born from a "polluted womb."
Woodard told the court that she was raised by "numerous" other people, including her grandmother Dorothy, and lived in foster care when she was 12 years old. Describing Dorothy as "my mother" she said, "I loved my grandmother very much." The 35-year-old addressed her biological mother as "Brenda" throughout her testification and admitted that she "hated" her.
Also, Woodard talked about the summer of 1998, when she moved in with her biological mother when she was pregnant with Cruz at the time. She said in court, "That was the time I was living with Brenda and Nikolas was developing in her polluted womb."
After that, Woodard continued, smiling across the courtroom at her brother as she talked about the day he was born. She said, "I held him. He was full of life. I looked at my mom and said 'can we keep him?'... Brenda screamed at me and my grandmother 'get out of here' because I asked if we could keep him."
Prosecutors compared her upbringing to Cruz's during cross-examination, pointing out that despite sharing a biological parent, the two had very different childhoods. Cruz was raised in a nice neighborhood in Florida, whereas Woodard was raised intermittently by their alcoholic mother.
Prosecutors claimed that Lynda and Roger Cruz took Nikolas into their large home and gave him summer camps, therapy sessions, and other elements of a good upbringing whereas his sister confirmed she wasn't even taken to a psychiatrist by her biological mother.
She responded, "I would have thought that would have been a great thing," in response to a hypothetical question about how she would have felt if someone had paid to adopt her, as happened with Cruz.
Cruz exhibited aggressive tendencies and bizarre fantasies despite these efforts, according to the prosecution, including adopting the personalities of wild animals like lions and tigers. Lynda Cruz died just months before the massacre, and Cruz's adoptive father died from a heart attack when he was five.
Cruz, 23, is currently awaiting his sentence after pleading guilty to one of the worst mass shootings in American history.